Spirally sliced ham and turkey have enjoyed considerable popularity, primarily because consumers find it convenient to be able to quickly and easily remove the precut slices at the point of use. The meat is sliced about a core that remains intact in order to retain the slices attached to the meat without falling off or folding over. At the same time, the individual slices can be easily detached for consumption.
Both boneless and "bone in" meats have been offered as spirally sliced products. In the case of a product having a bone, the meat is sliced about the bone and a core of meat immediately surrounding the bone remains uncut to hold the slices together. In the case of boneless meat, a central core of meat is left uncut in order to hold the product together. In both cases, it is desirable to maintain the core as small as possible while retaining sufficient meat in the core to prevent the slices from detaching or becoming so loose that they fold over or otherwise deform.
When meat having a bone is spirally sliced, the bone which remains in place at the center provides ample support from end to end while the meat is being sliced using suitable machinery. However, support for the meat is a problem during spirally slicing of boneless meat. Typically, the meat is held in a slicing machine on a rotating base and is clamped from above by a chuck device that rotates with the meat in the manner of an idler member. In the absence of a support, boneless meat that is sliced in this fashion tends to twist from top to bottom due to the drag applied by the cutting blade. Because the base which underlies the meat is directly driven by a motor, the base is largely unaffected by the blade drag and travels at a constant speed. However, the top chuck is not driven and tends to slow down as a result of the drag force applied by the blade. Thus, there is a differential speed between the top and bottom of the meat, and the result is a tendency for the meat to twist. As the meat is progressively sliced, the twisting becomes more pronounced because the loose meat slices are unable to resist the tendency to twist about the relatively small core at the center. At times, the slices can detach from the core and the entire product can be ruined.
This problem can be overcome by making use of a center support rod or skewer. The rod is driven through the meat to extend along the rotational axis at the center of the core. It is attached to the base at its lower end, and a removable chuck is applied to its top end above the meat. The chuck can be clamped to the top of the meat and locked to the rod. Consequently, when the base is rotated, the rod and the top chuck rotate with it. Because the chuck firmly grips the meat, the top of the meat rotates at the same speed as the base. This eliminates the differential speed that can cause the meat to twist. The rod can be removed following completion of the slicing operation.
Although a support rod of this type can essentially eliminate twisting of the meat as it is being sliced, the use of a rod complicates the process considerably. The rod must be driven through the meat and the top chuck must be applied to the rod, clamped against the meat and locked in place at the beginning of each slicing cycle. At the end of the slicing cycle, the chuck must be loosened and removed and the rod must be pulled out of the core. These added steps complicate and slow down the meat slicing process significantly. Also, they increase the chances for human error to cause problems. If the operator is unskilled or inexperienced, the rod can be skewed or applied at an off center position. This can result in the meat being sliced improperly, sometimes to the point where the product is so unattractive that it is commercially unacceptable.